wei'iz'pwr'iw 

*A  'NT  <a 


Safe  View  of  Spiritism 
For  Catholics 


By  REV.  JOSEPH  C.  SASIA,  S.  J. 


Published  with  Approval  of  Ecclesiastical  Authority. 


FOR      FREE      DISTRIBUTION 


x 


SANTA  CLARA,   CAL. 


A.  M.  D.  G. 


A  Safe  View  of  Spiritism 
for  Catholics 

BY 

REV.  JOSEPH  C.  SASIA,  S.  J. 


Published  with  Approval  of  Ecclesiastical  Authority. 


FOR  FREE  DISTRIBUTION. 


1920 

POPP  &  HOGAN,  PRINTERS 
San  Jose,  California. 


Office  of  the  ARCHBISHOP,  San  Francisco,  California. 
Nihil  Obstat,  J.  M.  BYRNE,  Censor  Deputatus. 
Imprimi  Potest,  MSGR.  PATRICK  I,.  RYAN,  Vicar  General, 
April  28,  1920. 


FOREWORD 

The  timeliness  of  this  little  pamphlet  is  due  to  the  fact  that 
Spiritism  is  of  late  displaying  an  increased  activity,  a  menace 
to  the  religion,  mental  sanity,  and  moral  character  of  Christian 
believers.  Its  title  shows  that  the  appeal  is  chiefly  directed  to 
Catholics ;  but  we  feel  inclined  to  think  that  non-Catholics  also 
may  read  it  with  profit.  The  Imprimatur  kindly  granted  by 
the  Church  Authority  of  this  Archdiocese  affords  to  the  readers 
a  sure  guarantee  of  the  soundness  of  the  views  expressed  in 
its  pages.  To  facilitate  its  diffusion  among  our  people,  a  gen- 
erous Catholic  Lady  of  San  Jose  has  kindly  volunteered  to 
defray  the  expenses  of  its  publication;  hence  it  is  intended  to 
be  distributed  free.  Should  this  small  brochure  prove  bene- 
ficial, as  we  earnestly  hope,  to  those  that  will  peruse  it,  the 
author  will  deem  himself  to  be  thus  amply  compensated  for 
the  labor  spent  in  writing  it. 

JOSEPH  C.  SASIA,  S.  J. 
Librarian 

Santa  Clara  University 
June,  1920. 


444162 


"Put  you  on  the  armor  of  God,  that  you  may  be 
able  to  stand  against  the  deceits  of  the  devil.  For 
our  wrestling  is  not  against  flesh  and  blood,  but 
against  principalities  and  powers,  against  the 
rulers  of  the  world  of  this  darkness,  against  the 
spirits  of  wickedness  in  the  high  places." 

Kphesians  VI,  11-12. 


A  Safe  View  of  Spiritism  for  Catholics. 

FIRST  ARTICLE 

Introduction. 
On  the  Paramount  Importance  of  the  Subject  Treated. 

I. 

Spiritism  is  the  name  properly  given  to  the  belief  that  the 
living  can  and  do  communicate  with  the  spirits  or  souls  of  the 
departed.  Its  main  purpose  is  to  ascertain  what  is  their  experi- 
ence beyond  the  grave,  and  to  find  out  whether  it  corresponds 
with  the  teachings  of  Christianity  both  as  regards  this  life  and 
the  next.  Another  object  is  also  to  satisfy  the  curiosity  of 
inquirers  concerning  the  knowledge  of  other  secret  things. 

This  practice  of  consulting  the  dead  is  generally  carried  out 
through  the  intervention  of  the  so-called  mediums,  living  per- 
sons, who  are  said  to  be  more  or  less  susceptible  to  the  influ- 
ence of  the  supposed  spirits  of  the  dead,  and  they  act  as  inter- 
mediaries in  receiving  and  transmitting  their  communications. 
We  advisedly  say  generally,  for,  as  will  be  shown  in  the  sequel, 
the  presence  of  a  medium  is  not  absolutely  necessary  for  the 
evocation  of  spiritistic  manifestations. 

Though  such  performances  are  also  designated  by  the  word 
spiritualism,  yet,  to  avoid  confusion,  it  is  better  to  reserve  said 
term  to  signify  the  philosophical  doctrine,  which  holds  that 
there  exists  a  spiritual  order  of  beings  no  less  real  than  the 
material,  and  in  particular  that  the  human  soul  is  a  spiritual 
and  therefore  intelligent  and  immortal  substance. 

Modern  spiritism  within  a  generation  has  passed  beyond  the 
limits  of  a  merely  popular  movement,  mainly  prompted  by 
sentimental  curiosity,,  to  serious  inquiry,  and  as  such  has  chal- 
lenged the  attention  of  the  upholders  of  Christianity,  and  of 
the  scientific  world.  On  this  account  it  is  becoming  every  day 
unceasingly  impossible  for  any  educated  person  to  dismiss  the 
subject  of  spiritism  with  mere  contempt.  Owing  to  these  and 
other  considerations,  a  few  articles  have  been  prepared  by  the 
writer  for  the  readers  of  the  Mercury  Herald,  which  its  able 
editor  has  kindly  consented  to  publish  in  four  successive 
issues. 

The  present  introductory  essay  is  intended  to  answer  the 
following  preliminary  questions: 


6 

1 — What  are  the  chief  spiritistic  phenomena? 

2 — Should  \v»-  accept  many  of  them  as  true,  genuine  facts? 

3 — How  can  they  be  rationally  accounted  for? 

Some  belong  to  the  physical  or  material  order  of  things 
while  others  must  be  ascribed  to  intellectual  agencies,  whatever 
they  may  be. 

1.  Physical  Facts.  Objects,  which  could  hardly  be  moved  by 
several  men,  are  easily  lifted  and  transported  instantaneously 
from  remote  distances  by  the  medium.  Musical  instruments  are 
played  without  being  touched  by  any  one.  Heavy  bodies  are 
seen  suspended  and  floating  in  the  air  without  any  visible  sup- 
port. The  alteration  of  weight  of  bodies  from  eight  pounds  to 
forty  pounds,  a  fact  testified  by  an  eminent  scientist,  the  late 
Sir  William  Crookes,  who  wrote:  "I  had  the  entire  manage- 
ment of  this  experimental  trial,  employed  an  instrument  of 
great  accuracy  and  took  every  care  to  exclude  the  possibility 
of  trickery."  Dr.  H.  Carrington  bears  testimony  to  the  oppo- 
site phenomenon,  the  loss  of  weight.  He  writes:  "During  the 
experiments  in  Milan  it  was  found  that  the  medium  in  about 
twenty  seconds  had  lost  no  less  than  seventeen  pounds." 

But  what  is  considered  the  triumph  of.  spiritism  is  the  won- 
der of  materialization,  which  consists  in  the  actual  appearance 
in  its  full  bodily  form  of  a  supposed  discarnate  soul,  that  moves 
about  clothed  in  a  kind  of  silk  drapery,  speaks  to  the  sitters  in 
audible  whispers,  and,  after  a  time,  gradually  melts  away 
before  their  eyes. 

The  mediums  give  answers,  which  absolutely  exceed  the 
well-known  limits  of  their  culture,  they  speak  ancient  and  mod- 
ern languages  at  the  bidding  of  the  experimenters,  solve  intri- 
cate mathematical  problems  and  perform  other  feats  which 
only  a  superior  intelligence  could  accomplish.  The  following 
is  a  case  in  point : 

The  great  English  astronomer,  the  late  John  F.  Herschel, 
at  first  called  spiritism  sheer  quackery.  A  friend  of  his  invited 
him  to  a  seance  to  be  held  in  clear  daylight  so  as  to  exclude 
any  attempt  at  trickery  or  jugglery  of  any  kind.  The  medium 
purposely  chosen  was  a  country  woman  utterly  destitute  of 
education.  As  soon  as  she  had  fallen  into  the  usual  trance, 
the  astronomer,  bent  on  unmasking  her,  questioned  her  con- 
cerning certain  intricate  mathematical  problems,  which  he  him- 
self had  solved.  She  answered  that  the  calculations  of  Her- 
schel were  wrong,  and  stated  what  corrections  should  be  made. 


The  astronomer  laughed  as  an  unbeliever.  But  what  hap- 
pened ?  Some  time  after,  going  over  his  figures,  he  found  that 
the  medium  was  right,  and  he  was  honest  enough  to  acknowl- 
edge his  mistake  in  the  public  press. 

But  the  wonderful  feats  of  spiritism  described  above  are 
not  the  exclusive  doings  of  the  educated  white  race.  The  far 
more  marvelous  achievements  of  the  Fakirs  of  India  prove 
that  the  whites  are  mere  beginners  and  are  outdone  by  their 
dusky  brothers.  For  proof  of  this  statement  see  the  book  enti- 
tled ""Spiritism  Unveiled",  by  D.  I.  Lanslot,  0.  S.  B.,  Vicar 
Apostolic  of  Northern  Transvaal.  B.  Herder,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

If  space  permitted  it,  other  similar  instances  might  be 
alleged;  but  the  preceding  ones  will  suffice  for  our  purpose. 
Are  many  such  phenomena  real  facts? 

2.  As  medicine  has  its  quacks,  science  its  impostors,  com- 
mercial trade  its  frauds,  so  spiritism  may,  at  times,  have  been 
found  guilty  of  jugglery,  and  palmed  off  its  trickery  as  genu- 
ine wonders,  thus  deceiving  unwary  and  gullible  folks.  But 
this  fact  does  not  warrant  sweeping  denial  of  all  the  doings  of 
spiritism.  Such  a  conclusion  would  be  both  illogical  and 
unfair,  and  would  moreover  brand  as  dishonest,  mean  impostors 
a  large  multitude  of  fair-minded  witnesses  of  spiritistic  won- 
ders. In  spite  of  occasional  exposure,  there  occur  phenomena, 
which  cannot  be  ascribed  to  fraud  of  any  sort. 

This  view  is  shared  by  men,  whose  knowledge  and  integrity 
is  altogether  above  suspicion.  The  experiments  they  relate  as 
eye  witnesses,  the  severe  tests,  to  which  they  have  been  put, 
the  many  precautions  taken  to  avoid  all  possible  deception, 
vouch  with  absolute  certainity  for  the  undeniable  reality  of 
spiritistic  marvels.  Hence  we  fully  endorse  the  view  of  Rev. 
Herbert  Thurston,  S.  J.,  expressed  in  his  recent  article  on  the 
peril  of  spiritism,  published  in  the  London  Weekly  Universe : 

"I  believe  that,  in  spite  of  much  trickery,  astounding  man- 
ifestations, which  cannot  be  other  than  preternatural,  casually 
occur.  It  seems  to  me  that  no  human  testimony  can  avail  to 
establish  any  historical  fact  at  all,  if  we  are  to  set  aside  the 
evidence  for  these  happenings." 

Instead,  therefore,  of  cutting  off  the  vexatious  problem  by 
a  sweeping,  irrational  denial,  we  deem  it  a  wiser  and  braver 
course  to  grapple  with  it,  and  endeavor  to  reach  a  reasonable 
and  satisfactory  solution.  Hence  we  cannot  approve  the  con- 
duct of  certain  modern  scientists,  who  either  deny  the  facts. 


—  8— 

which  are  shown  to  be  true,  or  thrust  them  aside  as  unworthy 
of  serious  investigation. 

The  Spiritists  will  admit,  with  all  level-headed  men,  that 
nobody  can  give  what  he  has  not,  and  that  a  reasonable  cause 
must  be  assigned  of  Spiritism,  for  to  resort  continually  to 
unknown  causes  as  a  justification  of  our  ignorance,  does  not 
offer  a  rational  explanation  accounting  satisfactorily  for  facts, 
the  reality  of  which  cannot  be  denied  except  by  obstinate 
skeptics. 

3.  In  accordance  with  the  claims  of  reason  and  common 
sense,  every  event  must  have  a  cause ;  every  effect  calls  for  an 
efficient  cause,  force,  or  agent  able  to  produce  it.  On  this  all 
are  agreed,  the  only  practical  difference  in  the  various  explana- 
tions of  the  facts  of  spiritism  consists  in  the  nature  of  that 
cause. 

Among  the  possible  causes,  fairly  covering  the  whole 
ground,  the  following  have  been  advocated  by  different  writers, 
and  the  disciples  of  several  spiritistic  schools : 

1.  Almighty  God  Himself  through  the  ministry  of  the  good 
angels. 

2.  The  extraordinary  achievements  of  the  medium  when  in 
a  trance. 

3.  Some  mysterious  natural  agent  or  force,  the  theory  of 
some  modern  scientists. 

4.  The  so-called  discarnate  souls  of  the  dead  as  held  by  the 
upholders  of  spiritism. 

5.  The  evil  spirits,  Satan  and  the  fallen  angels  called  de- 
mons, the  firm  belief,  as  will  be  proved,    of   all    conservative 
Christians,  and  of  all  the  defenders  of  sacred  Scripture. 

For  clearness  sake  we  shall  adopt  in  this  discussion  in  our 
next  article  the  process  of  elimination  and  allege  several  co- 
gent reasons  why,  after  rejecting  as  unsatisfactory  all  other 
causes,  the  spiritistic  phenomena  must  be  attributed  only,  and 
exclusively  to  devilish  intervention.  This  view  fully  justifies 
the  saying  of  St.  Peter  Chrysologus:  "Qui  jocatur  cum  diabolo, 
non  gaudebit  cum  Christo. "  "He  who  meddles  with  the  devil 
will  not  rejoice  with  Christ." 

It  shall  be  our  object  to  draw  from  reliable  sources  any  such 
material  as  will  be  deemed  necessary  to  our  purpose,  and  also 
to  take  into  consideration  the  current  various  systems  of  inter- 
pretation, which  have  been  devised  with  a  view  to  an  explana- 
tion of  the  phenomena  in  question.  The  facts  shown  to  be  tak- 


— 9  — 

ing  place  in  connection  with  recent  experimental  research  are 
many  and  wonderful,  and  they  present  problems  of  the  greatest 
importance  and  significance.  It  is  only  the  earnestr  unpre- 
judiced study  of  them,  in  the  light  of  divine  revelation  and 
sound  reason,  that  can  lead  the  inquiring  mind  to  a  discovery 
of  the  real  agents  responsible  for  the  production  of  the  spirit- 
istic marvels,  and  thus  enable  it  to  determine  the  question  as 
to  the  lawfulness  and  morality  of  the  practice  of  spiritism. 

SECOND  ARTICLE 

The  True,  Real  Cause  of  Certain  Spiritistic  Phenomena. 

II. 

The  purpose  I  have  in  view  in  penning  these  articles  is  to 
set  forth  as  clearly  and  concisely  as  possible  the  orthodox  doc- 
trine on  Spiritism;  a  doctrine  held  not  only  by  Catholics,  but 
also  by  all  consistent  believers  in  historic  Christianity,  where 
alone  we  find  the  true  standard,  by  which  the  momentous 
problems  presented  by  that  so-called  new  religion  can  be  fairly 
and  adequately  solved,  and  the  inquiring  mind  led  to  the  detec- 
tion of  the  real  agents  responsible  for  the  spiritistic  marvels. 

Correct  View. 

Such  a  knowledge,  practically  necessary  in  our  days,  will 
enable  the  reader  to  pronounce  a  correct  judgment  on  the  mat- 
ter at  issue,  and  on  the  teachings  of  the  two  leading  spiritistic 
lights,  Sir  Oliver  Lodge  and  Conan  Doyle,  a  prominent  English 
physician.  The  latter,  in  a  recent  public  lecture,  was  bold 
enough  to  give  to  his  audience  the  horrible  advice  that  all 
should  become  spiritistic  mediums ;  an  advice,  which  the  medi- 
cal profession,  that  respects  itself,  will,  no  doubt,  indignantly 
repudiate  in  the  interest  of  health,  religion  and  morality,  men- 
aced by  Spiritism,  as  shown  later  on. 

The  severe  tests,  to  which  many  spiritistic  facts  have  been 
put  and  the  absolute  trustworthiness  of  the  experimenters 
vouch  with  certainty  for  their  undeniable  reality.  It  is  now 
my  task  to  pass  in  review  each  of  the  different  causes  pro- 
posed as  explanatory  of  the  doings  of  Spiritism,  so  as  to  ascer- 
tain to  which  of  them  they  should  be  ascribed. 

Some  people,  struck  by  the  astounding  wonders  they  wit- 
nessed at  the  seances,  thought  that  they  were  the  work  of  the 
Deity.  Hence  the  need  of  the  inquiry: 


—10— 

(1)  Are  the  phenomena  of  Spiritism  to  be  attributed  to 
God? 

The  simple  proposal  of  the  question  suggests  the  answer, 
which  is  an  emphatic  negative.  They  cannot  be  ascribed  to 
God's  immediate  agency,  who  certainly  is  not  to  be  supposed 
acting  as  a  mere  tool  in  the  hands  of  His  creatures,  to  obey 
their  summons  and  operate  wonders  at  their  bidding  to  gratify 
their  morbid  curiosity. 

Moreover,  has  not  Almighty  God  forbidden,  under  the  sever- 
est penalties  both  temporal  and  eternal,  the  superstitious  prac- 
tice of  consulting  the  dead?  The  Lord  thus  spoke  to  the  Israel- 
ites through  the  prophet  Moses:  " Neither  let  it  be  found 
among  you  any  one  that  consulteth  pythonic  spirits,  or  that 
seeketh  the  truth  from  the  dead.  For  the  Lord  abhorreth  these 
things."  Deuteronomy,  xviii,  11-12. 

Protestant  Testimony. 

It  is  gratifying  to  see  the  orthodox  doctrine  fully  endorsed 
by  the  following  Protestant  testimony :  More  than  thirty  years 
ago,  when  modern  Spiritism  was  in  its  infancy,  the  eminent 
Presbyterian  divine,  De  Witt  Talmage,  inveighed  against  it 
with  all  the  force  of  his  eloquence:  "What  does  God  think  of 
all  these  delusions?  He  thinks  so  severely  that  He  never  speaks 
of  them  but  with  livid  thunders  of  indignation ;  for  all  that  do 
these  things  are  an  abomination  unto  the  Lord.  After  that  be 
a  Spiritist,  if  you  dare. ' ' 

The  attitude  of  the  Catholic  Church  towards  the  practice  of 
Spiritism  is  uncompromising  and  unmistakable,  as  it  appears 
from  the  two  following  decrees  of  the  Holy  Office :  "  To  call  up 
the  souls  of  the  dead  is  a  deception  absolutely  unlawful,  heret- 
ical, and  scandalous. "  Approved  by  Pius  IX  in  1858.  To  the 
question  whether  it  is  lawful  to  be  present  at  any  Spiritistic 
communication,  even  with  no  intention  of  dealing  with  wicked 
spirits,  the  answer  was  an  emphatic  negative  and  bears  the 
sanction  of  the  reigning  Pontiff,  Benedict  XV,  April  27,  1917. 

Some  wiseacres,  who  know  as  much  about  Spiritism  as  the 
average  American  about  Oriental  languages,  think  that  the 
best  solution  of  the  vexed  problem  is  simply  to  ridicule  it. 
Our  answer  is  that  such  an  offhand  explanation,  to  say  nothing 
at  present  of  its  glaring  absurdity,  throws  an  impertinent 
reflection  on  the  policy  of  the  Catholic  Church,  who,  instead  of 
merely  ridiculing  Spiritism,  thought  it  wise  to  denounce  it,  and 


1  1 

assign  the  reasons  for  its  condemnation. 

(2)  Are  the  facts    of  Spiritism    to  be    assigned  to    good 
angels  ? 

We  take  here  for  granted  what  Catholics  and  the  generality 
of  Christians  hold  concerning  the  holy  angels,  who,  at  their 
trial,  remained  faithful  and  loyal  to  their  Sovereign  Creator, 
and  are  now  partakers  of  heavenly  happiness.  Being  perfectly 
united  with  their  Lord,  and  entirely  submissive  to  His  holy  will, 
they  never  use  their  power  in  doing  what  God  hates  and  abso- 
lutely forbids.  They  fight  with  us  against  the  common  ene- 
mies, Satan  and  the  rebel  angels,  the  battles  of  the  Lord,  Whose 
design  they  accomplish  in  our  behalf.  Hence  it  is  certain  that 
they  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  abominable  performances  of 
the  Spiritistic  seances. 

(3)  Shall  we  say  that  the  mediums    themselves  are    the 
authors  of  the  astounding  feats  of  Spiritism  ? 

Unscientific  Explanations. 

A  number  of  scientists,  particularly  if  materialists,  deter- 
mined to  exclude  anything  preternatural,  and  much  more  the 
supernatural,  confronted  with  the  undeniable  facts  of  Spiritism 
have  devised  explanations  highly  discreditable  to  science  itself, 
because  both  silly  and  absurd.  Hence  they  need  only  be  stated 
to  be  refuted  by  any  man  of  elementary  knowledge  and  sound 
common  sense.  Their  opinions  differ  so  widely,  and  are  at 
times  so  contradictory  that  it  seems  quite  useless  to  examine 
them.  A  few  specimens  will  suffice. 

Dr.  William  Crookes  speaks  thus :  "In  some  individuals 
acting  as  mediums  there  is  an  organism  that  enables  them  to 
work  all  the  spiritistic  wonders.  It  is  called  the  Psychic  force/' 

Dr.  Rickert  writes:  "The  intellectual  marvels  witnessed  at 
seances  are  the  result  of  the  astounding  knowledge  hidden  in 
the  mind  of  mediums,  and  exhibited  by  them  when  in  a  trance." 

Others,  especially  the  materialists  of  the  medical  fraternity, 
attribute  all  those  phenomena  to  fits  of  hysteria  and  neurasthe- 
nia or  to  a  mysterious  fluid  emanating  from  the  entranced 
medium.  All  such  and  similar  theories  are  shown  to  be  false 
by  the  fact  admitted  by  the  Spiritists  themselves  that  all 
mediums,  even  the  most  clever,  are  simply  instrumental  chan- 
nels of  communication,  entirely  subject  to  the  control  and 
caprice  of  the  real,  though  invisible  authors  of  the  phenomena 
in  question.  It  is  well  known  that,  at  times,  such  communiea- 


—12— 

tions  are  suddenly  interrupted;  what  becomes  then  of  the 
psychic  force,  the  latent  knowledge  and  the  mysterious  fluid  of 
the  medium? 

According  to  some  theorists  the  action  alone  of  the  medium 
suffices  to  account  for  all  spiritistic  phenomena.  There  exists 
in  man,  they  say,  an  astral  substance  of  a  nature  between  mat- 
ter and  spirit,  which,  if  detached  from  the  body  of  the  medium 
affords  a  means  of  communication  with  the  spirits.  Medium- 
ship  therefore  consists  in  the  ability  of  a  person  to  detach  from 
his  body  this  astral  substance.  Of  the  existence  of  this  strange 
being  as  well  as  of  the  sublimal  self,  and  automatism,  the  so- 
called  natural  causes  of  spiritistic  phenomena,  not  a  shred  of 
proof  is  adduced.  As  to  the  astral  substance  suffice  it  to  say 
that  a  being,  which  is  neither  spirit  nor  matter,  is  simply  a  non- 
entity. 

(4)  Are  the  phenomena  of  Spiritism  the  work  of  some 
natural  force  or  agency  hitherto  unknown  to  science  ? 

A  Theory  Upset. 

The  advocates  of  such  view  reason  thus:  "We  do  not  know 
all  the  forces  of  organic  and  inorganic  beings.  Now,  since 
science,  always  progressive,  may  discover  in  the  course  of  time 
as  a  stern  reality  what  we  at  present  ignore,  who  knows  but 
in  the  near  future,  a  hidden  natural  agent  may  be  discovered 
and  the  now  mysterious  phenomena  fully  explained?" 

We  freely  grant  that  the  future  may  have  wonderful  sur- 
prises in  store  for  us.  In  fact,  what  was  considered  an  impos- 
sibility a  century  ago,  is  now  a  reality,  wireless  telegraphy. 
There  is,  however,  at  hand  a  principle  to  guide  us,  which  is 
admitted  by  all,  namely,  that  no  effect  can  be  superior  to  the 
cause  producing  it.  The  unbiased  inquirer  cannot  fail  to  see 
that  blind  natural  forces  are  utterly  unable  to  give  rise  to 
effects  superior  to  themselves  such  as  all  the  spiritistic  marvels, 
the  work  not  of  blind,  necessary  agents,  but  of  intelligent  and 
free  causes. 

Common  sense  tells  us  that  to  speak  different  languages, 
both  ancient  and  modern,  to  solve  correctly  intricate  mathemat- 
ical problems,  to  diagnose  successfully  complicated  diseases 
cannot  be  the  work  of  any  natural  forces  however  powerful 
they  may  be. 

As  recourse  to  as  yet  unknown  physical  or  natural  agents 
is  the  chief  argument  of  our  opponents,  we  deem  it  advisable 


—13— 

to  demonstrate  at  greater  length  its  absolute  worthlessness 
from  a  philosophical  point  of  view.  The  answer  is  derived 
from  the  Civilta  Cattolica,  a  roman  semi-monthly  production 
designated  by  Mr.  E.  Preuss  as  the  leading  Catholic  review  of 
the  world.  The  writer  in  an  article  on  Spiritism  reasons  thus : 
According  to  the  present  order  of  Providence,  manifested  by 
experience  and  observation,  whatever  force  or  agent  acts  within 
the  limits  of  physical  nature  possesses  the  following  fixed  and 
unchangeable  characters: 

First.  It  is  determined  to  one  only  particular  effect — Thus 
heat  expands,  and  cold  contracts,  and  the  opposite  can  never 
occur. 

Secondly.  It  is  constant  and  uniform  in  its  operations,  for 
every  natural  force  is  governed  by  fixed,  invariable  laws. 

Thirdly.  When  the  conditions  required  for  its  activity  are 
present,  it  necessarily  acts.  Apply  a  flame  to  powder  and  the 
explosion  is  inevitable. 

Fourthly.  In  its  operations  it  is  entirely  destitute  of  liberty 
or  choice.  Can  we  say  that  a  lighted  candle  is  free  to  burn  or 
extinguish  itself? 

As  none  of  these  conditions  are  verified  in  the  spiritistic 
phenomena,  the  observer  is  logically  drawn  to  the  conclusion 
that  they  cannot  be  abscribed  to  any  known  or  unknown  purely 
natural  agency  or  force. 

In  fact,  first,  in  the  spiritistic  seances  are  seen  substantially 
different  effects  such  as  the  physical,  psychical,  physiological 
and  psychological  wonders. 

Secondly,  there  is  no  uniformity  of  action  witnessed,  for 
every  operation  has  its  own  peculiar  method,  every  method  its 
varieties,  and  every  variety  its  exceptions,  all  effects,  which 
obey  no  constant,  fixed  law. 

Third,  when  everything  is  ready  for  a  spiritistic  seance,  are 
the  expected  manifestations  always  forthcoming  at  the  bidding 
of  the  experimenter,  or  at  the  choice  of  the  medium?  By  no 
means,  for,  at  times,  the  performance  must  be  either  prolonged, 
or  interrupted,  or  indefinitely  postponed,  on  account  of  the 
caprice  of  the  agents  at  work,  whoever  they  be. 

Fourthly,  from  what  has  just  been  said,  the  intellectual  free 
action  of  the  invisible  agents  is  patent  to  all.  Therefore  as  all 
the  characters  of  the  spiritistic  phenomena  are  essentially  dif- 
ferent from  those  of  the  physical,  natural  forces,  it  stands  to 


—14— 

reason  to  conclude  that  they  cannot  be  attributed  to  any  nat- 
ural agent. 

(5)  Should  we  then  agree  with  the  Spiritists  and  ascribe 
the  facts  in  question  to  the  souls  of  the  dead  ? 

Here  also  we  must  answer  in  the  negative.  The  principal 
reason  is  because  such  souls  are  utterly  unable  to  perform 
either  the  physical  or  the  intellectual  deeds  witnessed  at  the 
seances.  •  In  fact,  all  physical  or  mechanical  performances 
require  action  on  matter,  which  is  naturally  impossible  to  dis- 
carnate  souls.  As  St.  Thomas  and  many  Catholic  philosophers 
hold,  pure  spirits,  whether  angels  or  demons,  not  being  determ- 
ined to  animate  any  particular  bodily  organism,  have  full 
power,  though  under  God's  control,  to  act  on  matter  and  work 
the  material  feats  of  Spiritism. 

Human  souls,  on  the  contrary,  when  once  separated  from 
their  body  by  death,  retain  no  further  power  of  action  on  mat- 
ter. Neither  can  the  souls  of  the  dead  operate  any  of  the  intel- 
lectual wonders;  for  the  astounding  answers  given  entirely 
exceed  the  well  known  limits  of  the  mental  capacity,  which 
they  possessed  when  living. 

Have  the  Spiritists  ever  proved  that  the  mere  fact  of  death 
transforms  persons  of  average  intelligence  into  prodigies  of 
learning?  Or  shall  we  suppose  that  God  Himself  will  infuse 
into  departed  souls  the  extraordinary  knowledge  displayed  at 
the  seances,  and  thus  enable  men  to  consult  the  dead  and  to  do 
the  very  thing  which  He  Himself  so  rigorously  condemns? 

Moreover,  the  trivialities,  obscenities,  blasphemies,  and,  at 
times,  the  expressions  of  hatred  against  the  sitters  are  notorious 
and  the  spiritists  themselves  deplore  their  occurrence.  Can 
these  abominal  things  be  said  to  be  the  work  of  departed  souls, 
whose  moral  integrity  in  life,  in  some  cases  well  known  to  the 
audience,  makes  them  utterly  incredible  and  absurd?  That  the 
astounding  communications  received  at  the  seances  do  not 
come  from  the  dead,  but,  from  the  fallen  spirits,  the  demons,  we 
learn  from  the  spiritists  themselves.  Allan  Kardec — formerly 
M.  Rivail,  the  French  standard  bearer  of  the  new  cult,  in  his 
book  on  mediums,  writes  that  "any  question  may  be  asked  at 
the  seance.  If  it  is  beneath  the  superior  dignity  of  a  superior 
spirit  to  answer,  an  inferior  spirit  will  always  be  at  hand  to 
satisfy  the  curiosity  of  the  inquirer,"  although,  he  naively  re- 
marks, they  are  not  conspicuous  for  truthfulness. 

We  here  fully  endorse  the  words  of  J.  Godfrey  Raupert : 


—15— 

"Many  of  the  best  informed  Catholic  Theologians  maintain 
that,  when  all  natural  explanations  of  the  phenomena  in  ques- 
tion, such  as  fraud,  nerves,  the  possibilities  of  telepathy,  etc., 
have  been  allowed  for,  there  are  phenomena,  which  must  be 
ascribed  to  the  action  of  evil  spirits — fallen  angels — masquer- 
ading as  the  souls  of  the  dead. ' ' — The  Fortnightly  Review,  May 
1,  1920. 

Among  the  many  authorities  that  could  be  alleged  to  main- 
tain the  Catholic  view  the  following  will  suffice  for  the 
present : 

Authorities  for  Catholic  View 

The  famous  French  astronomer,  Flammarion,  thus  replies 
to  the  Spiritists:  "Their  doctrine  is  far  from  being  demon- 
strated. The  innumerable  observations,  which  I  have  collected 
during  more  than  forty  years,  all  prove  to  me  the  contrary. 
No  satisfactory  identification  has  ever  been  made.  That  human 
souls  survive  the  destruction  of  the  body  by  death,  I  have  not 
a  shadow  of  doubt.  But  that  they  manifest  themselves  by  the 
processes  employed  in  Spiritistic  seances,  there  has  been  no 
absolute  proof." 

(6)  Are  the  doings  of  Spiritism  the  work  of  Satan  and  of 
his  companions,  the  fallen  angels? 

After  excluding  all  the  preceding  explanations  as  altogether 
unsatisfactory  there  remains  but  one  cause  that  fully  accounts 
for  the  many  spiritistic  phenomena,  that  cannot  be  ascribed 
to  mere  jugglery,  and  that  is  the  presence  and  action  of  wicked 
angels,  the  demons. 

But  here  I  am  confronted  with  an  apparently  unsurmount- 
able  difficulty  and  it  is  this :  Certain  men,  who  are  supposed  to 
be  taken  seriously,  do  not  believe  at  all  in  the  existence  of 
wicked  angels.  Speaking  from  the  editorial  pulpit  they  told 
us,  some  time  ago,  that  Satan  is  a  myth,  and  that  it  is  impossi- 
ble for  believers  in  God  to  admit  the  existence  of  any  so-called 
demons.  We  must  be  quite  sure  that  there  exist  no  such  beings 
in  creation,  for  they  said  it  themselves.  In  fact  they  advised 
Mr.  Stainton  Moses,  a  famous  medium  "to  cease  to  be  per- 
plexed about  thoughts  of  imagined  devils,  for  there  is  no  devil 
or  prince  of  devils  such  as  theology  has  feigned." 

But  as  this  was  said  by  lying  spirits,  we  shall  have  to  admit 
the  contrary  as  true  and  still  believe  with  all  Christians  worthy 
of  the  name  in  the  existence  and  the  wicked  doings  of  demons. 


—16— 

Glancing  over  the  Bible's  contents,  from  Genesis  to  the 
Apocalypse,  we  find  not  less  than  fifty  references  to  Satan  and 
the  rebel  angels. 

Christ's  Miracle 

Jesus  Christ  gave  evidence  of  His  Divine  power  by  the 
expulsion  of  demons  from  hundreds  of  possessed  and  obsessed 
persons.  On  the  theory  of  the  non-existence  of  such  creatures, 
Christ's  miracles  just  mentioned  were  a  huge  fraud,  and  He 
actually  played  the  hypocrite  by  pretending  to  expel  devils 
that  did  not  exist.  No  believer  in  the  Bible  can  deny  the 
existence  of  the  wicked  spirits,  the  devils,  without  stultifying 
himself. 

In  the  days  of  the  first  Reformers  (1600),  when  so  many 
traditional  doctrines  were  rudely  called  in  question,  the  belief 
in  the  existence  of  fallen  angels  was  found  so  deeply  rooted  in 
the  Christian  conscience  of  the  Faithful  that  no  attempt  was 
made  to  deny  that  truth. 

Dr.  H.  Carrington  has  this  to  say  on  the  subject:  "If  any- 
thing could  make  me  believe  in  the  doctrine  of  evil,  lying 
spirits,  it  would  be  the  sittings  I  had,  when  Mrs.  Piper  acted  as 
a  medium.  I  then  gained  the  distinct  impression  that,  instead 
of  the  souls  of  the  personages  she  claimed  to  be  present,  I  was 
dealing  with  exceedingly  deceitful  intelligences." 

Stainton  Moses,  quoted  above,  giving  his  own  experience, 
said  of  the  agent  at  work  in  a  seance :  *  *  It  bespeaks  a  deeply 
evil  nature.  Such  an  impostor  acting  with  an  air  of  sincerity 
must  be  Satan  clothed  in  light.'* 

Catholics  can  have  no  hesitation  in  their  belief  in  the  exist- 
ence and  nefarious  activities  of  demons.  After  Holy  Mass, 
celebrated  daily  in  countless  churches  throughout  the  world, 
by  order  of  the  Vicar  of  Christ,  a  public  prayer  is  recited  to 
implore  the  divine  protection,  and  the  special  assistance  of  the 
Archangel,  St.  Michael,  against  the  malice  and  the  snares  of 
Satan  and  the  other  evil  spirits  who  prowl  about  the  world 
seeking  the  ruin  of  souls. 

Several  other  reasons  will  be  adduced  in  our  next  article, 
in  which  we  shall  speak  of  the  many  fatal  dangers  of  Spiritism 
to  Religion,  health  and  morality. 

It  has  then  been  shown  that  devilish  intervention  is  the  only 
true  cause  of  all  real  Spiritistic  phenomena. 

This  conclusion  is  based  on  the  teaching  of  all  the  leading 
Catholic  theologians  and  moralists  of  the  day.  Their  doctrine. 


1  >J 

both  dogmatic  and  moral,  constitutes  the  sacred  science,  whose 
principles,  founded  on  God's  own  Revelation,  are  unchangeable 
and  form  the  supreme  standard  of  truth  and  morality.  Hence 
we  cannot  accept  the  view  of  a  recent  Catholic  writer  who  says 
that  "the  theological  verdict  on  Spiritism  should  be  adjusted  to 
the  new  order  of  things."  We  rather  think  that  the  opposite 
course  is  far  safer.  Therefore  modern  scientific  investigators, 
if  they  wish  to  steer  clear  of  erroneous  views,  should  be  careful 
not  to  advance  any  statement  that  runs  counter  to  revealed 
truth. 

THIRD  ARTICLE 

The  Serious  Dangers  of  Spiritism. 

Among  the  wise  maxims  taught  mankind  by.  their  divine 
Master,  Jesus  Christ,  is  that  which  enables  them  to  distinguish 
at  once  truth  from  error,  right  from  wrong,  and  good  from  evil. 
It  is  the  gospel  test:  "By  their  fruits  you  shall  know  them." 
Matthew  vii,  16.  We  have  the  best  possible  authorities  for 
resorting  on  occasion  to  this  unerring  principle,  viz. :  the  dictate 
of  reason,  the  unanimous  consent  of  men,  and  the  living  voice 
of  God's  incarnate  Son.  By  applying  this  infallible  rule  to 
the  system  of  Spiritism  and  its  agents  we  shall  be  able  to  know 
what  we  should  think  of  them,  and  to  determine  what  ought  to 
be  our  attitude  in  their  regard. 

There  are  three  most  precious  gifts  placed  by  the  beneficent 
Creator  within  the  possession  and  reach  of  man.  First,  his 
just  and  correct  relation  to  his  Sovereign  Maker  and  Lord 
through  the  knowledge  and  practice  of  religious,  Christian 
faith.  Secondly,  the  normal  condition  and  operation  of  his 
mental  faculties,  intellect  and  free  will,  through  which  he  can 
attend  to  and  reach  the  end  of  his  earthly  existence,  his  heav- 
enly appointed  destiny,  the  fulfillment  of  God's  holy  will  in  this 
world,  and  the  attainment  of  eternal  happiness  in  the  next. 
Thirdly,  the  healthy,  faultless  state  of  his  moral  conduct. 

Here  we  pertinently  ask :  What  is  the  influence  of  spiritistic 
communications  on  the  three  above  mentioned  gifts?  God's 
authority,  the  verdict  of  reason  and  the  sad  lesson  of  experi- 
ence compel  us  to  say  that  it  is  fatal  in  the  extreme  to  them  all. 
In  fact,  Spiritism  perverts  in  the  individual  experimenters  and 
the  mediums  the  teachings  of  Christian  faith ;  it  is  a  menace  to 
the  mental  faculties,  whose  untrammeled  exercise  is  needed  to 


—18— 

out  and  secure  our  eternal  salvation,  it  is  utterly  destruct- 
ive of  man's  moral  life. 

The  proofs  we  are  about  to  allege  will  fully  justify  us  in 
concluding  that  the  complete  wreck  of  men's  highest  gifts  both 
natural  and  supernatural  is  the  inevitable  result  of  the  prac- 
tices of  Spiritism  in  its  worst  phase.  From  their  fruits  then  we 
shall  learn  what  judgment  we  ought  to  form  of  the  agents  that 
produce  them. 

1.  To  begin  with,  what  do  the  advocates  of  Spiritism  teach 
us  concerning  Christianity  and  its  Founder? 

Let  the  Spiritists  tell  it  themselves. 

Sir  Oliver  Lodge :  ' '  The  traditional  teaching  of  Christianity 
will  have  to  undergo  a  radical  transformation." 

Dr.  Conan  Doyle :  ' '  Christianity  as  a  moral  system  I  hold 
to  be  as  pernicious  as  it  is  absurd. ' ' 

Stainton-Moses :  ' '  Christ  was  a  mere  man.  Through  the  reve- 
lation of  the  spirits  we  have  lost  a  God-man;  but  we  have 
gained  a  model  man,  all  but  divine." 

Allan  Karder:  "The  third  revelation  of  the  Son  of  God  is 
that  announced  by  the  spirits  who  are  the  mouthpiece  of 
heaven." 

As  shown  in  other  spiritistic  works,  scarcely  a  truth  of  the 
Christian  religion  remains  intact,  for  they  reject  the  fall  of 
man,  the  fact  of  redemption,  Christ's  miracles,  His  resurrec- 
tion, the  sacraments  of  the  Church,  the  doctrine  of  eternal 
reward  to  the  just,  and  everlasting  punishment  to  the  wicked, 
the  inspiration  of  the  Bible  and  other  fundamental  truths  too 
numerous  to  mention. 

Spiritism  is  a  new  Gospel  superseding  that  of  traditional 
Christianity.  It  is  professedly  the  religion  of  the  laity  as 
opposed  to  sacerdotalism  and  the  spiritual  authority,  which  it 
antagonizes. 

S.  George  Stock:  "Christianity  has  spent  its  force,  and 
Spiritism,  another  revelation,  has  succeeded  it  a  revelation 
suited  to  the  needs  of  the  time." 

It  would  be  a  huge  mistake  to  believe  that  the  new  religion, 
destined  to  supplant  Christianity,  root  and  branch,  forms  a 
consistent,  coherent,  harmonious  system  of  doctrines,  for  noth- 
ing is  farther  from  the  truth.  All  is  contradiction,  chaos  and 
confusion.  It  is  often  found  that  what  one  spirit  emphatically 
asserts,  another  just  as  emphatically  denies.  Nothing  worse 
could  be  expected  from  the  inmates  of  the  infernal  region, 


—19- 

where,  as  the  prophet  Job  tells  us  "no  order  but  everlasting 
horror  dwelleth, ' '  x.  22.  There  is,  however,  one  point  on  which 
they  all  agree,  their  hatred  of  Christian  truth. 

After  quoting  the  startling  views  of  Spiritists  on  Christi- 
anity and  its  Founder,  shall  we  undertake  the  task  of  confut- 
ing them  ?  No,  by  no  means,  and  this  for  two  weighty  reasons. 
First,  because  they  are  only  copying  from  old  and  modern 
unbelievers  or  infidels  assertions  and  assumptions  refuted  by 
both  Catholic  and  Protestant  apologists  hundreds  of  times,  as 
shown  by  the  controversial  works  that  fill  the  libraries  of  the 
civilized  world.  Secondly,  because  no  one  can  be  reasonably 
expected  to  answer  charges  unsupported  by  any  proof.  The 
ipse  dixit  of  Sir  Oliver  Lodge  and  Dr.  Conan  Doyle,  though 
they  both  hail  from  proud  Albion,  produces  no  conviction  on 
the  mind  of  the  truth-seeking  American  people.  When  the 
Spiritists  will  offer  us  better  credentials  than  the  contradictory 
doctrines  of  their  teachers,  it  will  be  time  enough  for  us  to  sub- 
mit them  to  a  searching  examination  so  as  to  ascertain  what 
they  are  worth. 

Speaking  at  the  beginning  of  this  article  of  the  destructive 
character  of  the  spiritistic  religion,  I  said  that  it  is  calculated 
to  pervert  the  principles  of  Christian  faith  in  individuals.  This 
is  unhappily  true  of  those  who,  in  defiance  of  God's  explicit 
prohibition,  indulge  in  practices  forbidden  under  the  severest 
penalties.  But  as  to  historic  Christianity,  which,  I  maintain, 
is  identical  with  Catholicism,  the  new-fangled  revelation  of  the 
Spiritists,  can  no  more  affect  it,  than  it  can  efface  the  sun  from 
the  heavens.  This  is  the  Christianity  that  has  stood  the  test  of 
the  wise  Jewish  sage,  Gamaliel  who,  nineteen  hundred  years 
ago,  in  Jerusalem  defended  the  Apostles  arrayed  before  the 
council,  who  were  threatened  with  death  for  preaching  the 
Christian  faith,  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  He  spoke  thus  to 
the  assembled  judges:  "I  say  to  you,  refrain  from  these  men 
and  let  them  alone ;  for  if  this  work  be  of  men,  it  will  come  to 
nought;  but  if  it  be  of  God,  you  cannot  overthrow  it."  Acts,  v. 
38,  39. 

Now  after  the  lapse  of  nearly  twenty  centuries,  which  wit- 
nessed its  unceasing  combats  and  its  perpetual  victories,  we 
may  complete  the  argument  and  say:  That  work,  the  Christian 
religion,  has  not  been  overthrown,  therefore  it  is  the  work  of 
God.  Applying  the  same  test  to  the  Spiritistic  cult  we  do  not 
hesitate  to  predict  its  downfall ;  it  shall  sooner  or  later  come 


—20— 

to  nought,  for  it  is  the  work  not  of  God  but  of  Satan.  This 
new  relevation  ushered  in  by  spirit  messages,  through  the 
entranced  mediums,  is  a  gigantic  delusion,  a  huge  fraud 
imposed  upon  a  world  which  has  become  estranged  from  Christ, 
and  has  lapsed  into  a  new  form  of  paganism. 

All  the  truths  of  Christianity  are  so  perfectly  coherent, 
harmonious  and  consistent  as  to  form  one  complete  whole. 
None  of  them  can  be  rejected  without  shaking  the  entire 
structure.  Divine  Revelation,  God's  masterpiece,  resembles  an 
arch  so  constructed  that  all  the  greater  stones  must  be  key- 
stones. Displace  one  of  them,  and  the  whole  fabric  falls  to 
pieces,  and  crumbles  into  dust.  Hence  it  is  -a  dangerous  thing 
to  meddle  and  tinker  with  revealed  truth.  It  has  been  said  that 
Christ  is  the  solution  of  all  difficulties.  Deny  his  Divinity  and 
all  the  difficulties  and  mysteries  of  the  present  life  remain 
unsolved.  Say,  Jesus  Christ  is  God,  and  all  is  intelligible.  If 
He  is  not  God,  then  Christianity  is  a  fraud,  a  mockery,  and  its 
Founder  the  greatest  impostor  that  ever  appeared  on  the  face 
of  the  earth.  There  is  no  other  alternative,  no  middle  ground. 

Mr.  Farmer,  a  staunch  spiritist,  in  his  work  entitled,  "A 
New  Basis  of  Life",  p.  36,  is  bold  enough  to  assert  that  "Spir- 
itualism (Spiritism)  is  a  renewal  of  Christ's  teachings,  and  a 
reappearance  of  the  signs  and  wonders,  which,  He  promised, 
should  distinguish  the  true  believer. ' '  Nothing  is  further  from 
the  truth  than  this  arrogant  pretention.  Not  one  of  the  many 
miracles  of  Christ  has  ever  been  reproduced  in  any  spiritistic 
performance,  that  is  a  genuine  miracle,  surpassing  the  power  of 
all  created  agents,  and  requiring  the  intervention  of  God's 
omnipotence.  Only  such  prodigies  can  bear  testimony  to 
heavenly  revealed  truth,  and  prove  that  religion  to  be  divine  in 
whose  behalf  they  have  been  performed.  Miracle  accredit  the 
miracle-worker  and  establish  his  credibility  only  when  they 
are  such  as  can  be  performed  only  by  the  finger  of  God.  If 
they  are  such  marvels  as  can  be  done  by  a  created  pOAver,  or  by 
a  lying  spirit,  they  prove  nothing  as  to  the  credibility  of  their 
author.  Prodigies,  therefore,  though  superhuman,  which  do 
not  transcend  the  power  of  created  intelligence,  do  not  accredit 
the  agent  who  performs  them,  particularly  when  the  agent  can 
and  does  lie  and  deceive.  We  entirely  reject,  therefore,  the  pre- 
tended identity  between  the  doings  of  Spiritism  and  the  Gospel 
miracles  wrought  by  Christ  as  witnesses  to  his  Divine  Mission, 
and  the  truth  of  His  message. 


--21— 

2.  Another  evil  fruit  of  Spiritism. 

The  mental  dangers  attending  spiritistic  practices  are  recog- 
nized by  men  well  qualified  to  speak  with  authority  on  the 
present  subject.  Dr.  L.  S.  Forbes  Winslow  in  his  work  on 
" Spritualistic  Madness"  (1877)  wrote  as  follows: 

''Thousands  of  unfortunate  people  are  at  present  confined 
in  lunatic  asylums  on  account  of  having  tampered  with  the 
supernatural."  And  quoting  an  American  journal  he  goes  on 
to  say.  "Not  a  week  passes,  in  which  we  do  not  hear  that  some 
of  these  unfortunates  destroy  themselves  by  suicide,  or  are 
removed  to  a  lunatic  asylum.  The  mediums  often  manifest 
signs  of  an  abnormal  condition  of  their  mental  faculties,  and 
among  certain  of  them  are  found  unequivocal  indications  of  a 
true  demoniacal  possession.  The  evil  spreads  rapidly  and  it 
will  produce  in  a  few  years  frightful  results." 

But  as  all  Christians  must  admit,  by  far  the  greatest  danger 
to  which  spiritistic  practitioners  expose  themselves,  is  that  of 
incurring  the  eternal  loss  of  their  soul.  For  if  insanity  over- 
takes them  when  guilty  of  some  grievous  offense  deserving 
endless  punishment,  and  they  were  to  depart  from  this  life 
before  recovering  the  normal  use  of  reason,  whose  exercise  is 
absolutely  necessary  for  acts  of  worthy  repentance,  their  doom 
is  sealed. 

Among  the  other  evil  effects  attributed  to  spiritistic  per- 
formances the  following  have  been  found  to  occur,  particularly 
in  the  case  of  mediums:  shattering  of  the  bodily  constitution, 
the  impairing  of  the  mental  faculties,  ever  growing  propensity 
to  unlawful  acts,  paralyzing  the  energy  of  the  will,  whose 
power  is  gradually  weakened,  and  is  finally  surrendered  to  the 
control  of  invisible  agencies.  Persistent  temptations  to  suicide 
on  the  plea  of  joining  the  happy  spirits  in  the  great  beyond,  are 
also  noted.  Here  again  we  conclude :  if  a  tree  is  known  by  its 
fruit,  what  should  we  think  of  a  system  and  of  practices  lead- 
ing to  such  fatal  consequences  as  are  pointed  out  in  hundreds 
of  volumes  on  this  subject  and  are  summarized  in  the  present 
article  ? 

3.  Immorality  is  another  pernicious  evil  traceable  to  spir- 
itistic doing.    Dr.  B.  F.  Hatch,  an  eminent  American  physician, 
former  husband  of  the  late  Mrs.  Cora  V.  Hatch,  a  once  famous 
medium  operating  in  several  cities  of  the  United  States,  writes : 
"The  extensive  opportunities,  which  I  have  had  of  studying 
the  nature  and  results  of  Spiritism  justify  me,  I  think,  in  laying 


—22— 

just  claims  to  being  a  competent  witness  on  the  matter  in  ques- 
tion. I  have  known  many,  whose  integrity  of  character  ren- 
dered them  worthy  examples  to  all  around,  but  who  on  becom- 
ing mediums  and  giving  up  their  individuality,  that  is  the  con- 
trol of  their  will,  also  gave  up  every  sense  of  honor  and 
decency.  There  are  thousands  of  high  minded  spiritists  who 
will  agree  with  me  that  it  is  no  slander  to  say  that  the  incul- 
cation of  no  doctrine  has  ever  shown  such  disastrous  moral 
results  as  the  practice  of  Spiritism,  I  stand  appalled  before  the 
revelation  of  its  awful  realities.  In  my  inquiries  I  have  been 
able  to  count  up  over  70  mediums,  most  of  whom  have  aban- 
doned their  conjugal  relations." 

Too  much  emphasis  cannot  be  laid  upon  the  wrecked  homes, 
the  ruined  lives,  the  unbalanced  minds,  the  blasted  careers,  and 
the  lost  peace  and  happiness  of  those  who  become  involved  in 
this  most  insidious  of  all  modern  perils,  when  all  moral  respon- 
sibility is  deadened  by  indulgence  in  the  lower  passions  and 
the  operations  of  the  will  are  well  nigh  paralyzed.  It  is  a  sad 
fact  proved  by  experience  that  when  the  evil  spirits  take  pos- 
session of  human  individuals,  they  employ  them  almost  at  will 
for  their  wicked  purposes  and  compel  them  to  write  the  foulest 
things,  against  which  their  miserable  victims  rebel  but  in  vain. 
And  yet  we  are  expected  to  believe  that  it  is  by  such  disastrous 
methods  that  we  are  made  the  recipients  of  a  new  revelation 
superior  to  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  The  answer  to  such  hollow, 
proud  boast  has  been  given  nearly  twenty  centuries  ago  by  St. 
Paul  when  he  thus  wrote  to  the  Galatians:  "But  though  we, 
or  an  angel  from  heaven  preach  a  Gospel  to  you  besides  that 
which  we  have  preached  to  you,  let  him  be  anathema."  Gal.  1.  8. 
And  what  should  we  say  of  this  new  Spiritistic  Gospel  preached 
not  by  an  angel  from  heaven  but  by  Satan  and  his  rebel  follow- 
ers from  the  abyss  of  hell  ?  Of  all  such  as  lend  countenance  to 
the  satanic  propaganda  as  mediums,  experimenters  and  sitters 
spoke  the  Divine  Master  when  He  said,  as  we  read  in  His 
Gospel:  "You  are  of  your  father  the  devil,  and  the  desires  of 
your  father  you  will  do."  John  viii,  44. 

I  purposely  refrain  from  mentioning  other  unsavory  details 
lest  I  should  offend  the  delicate  sense  of  some  readers.  In  this 
connection  it  is  hardly  necessary  for  me  to  assure  the  perusers 
of  this  paper  that  in  alleging  the  above  quotations  no  judgment 
of  individual  Spiritists  is  intended  on  our  part.  To  judge 
men's  secret  actions  belongs  to  God  alone,  and  no  man  should 


—23— 

dare  to  assume  it.  But  the  public  systems  or  doctrinal  teach- 
ings, to  which  men  give  adherence,  are  no  secrets  of  the  heart, 
and  may  therefore  be  examined  and  criticized. 

We  here  recall  the  wise  and  charitable  motto  of  St.  Augus- 
tine :  "Love  men,  but  kill  their  errors."  "Diligite  homines,  sed 
interficite  errores." 

In  reliable  works  on  the  present  subject  I  came  across  other 
startling  accounts  of  the  Spiritistic  communications.  In  Utah, 
they  defend  polygamy.  Where  abortion  and  birth  control  are 
common,  they  declare  such  practices  lawful  and  an  hygienic 
obligation.  At  some  sittings,  in  the  presence  of  ladies,  the 
spirits  utter  villainous,  indecent  words  suggestive  of  evil.  At 
times  they  have  no  other  aim  but  to  harm.  As  they  themselves 
suffer,  even  when,  by  God's  permission,  they  are  out  of  hell,  so 
they  delight  in  tormenting  men,  whom  they  hate,  and  whose 
lot  they  envy  for  their  being  destined  to  fill  in  heaven  the 
thrones  left  vacant  by  the  rebel  angels. 

To  prove  once  more  that  the  invisible,  free  and  intellectual 
agencies  at  work  in  the  spiritistic  seances  are  not  the  souls  of 
the  departed,  but  the  wicked,  fallen  angels,  the  demons,  I  call 
the  reader's  attention  to  the  following  remarks :  Can  we  reason- 
ably suppose  that  the  spirits  of  the  dead,  once  our  dear  com- 
panions in  life,  take  delight  in  deceiving  the  living?  Is  it  con- 
ceivable that  the  souls  of  the  departed,  our  dear  relatives  and 
friends  will  expose  their  surviving  parents,  their  brothers  and 
sisters  to  the  irreligious,  immoral  and  physical  dangers 
described  above? 

Among  the  natural  cravings  of  the  human  heart  is  the 
desire  to  know  something  certain  about  the  unseen  world.  As 
Cardinal  Gibbons  wrell  remarks:  "The  only  serene  question- 
ing about  the  thrilling  existence  of  the  Hereafter  is  that  of  the 
man,  whose  Faith  is  sure,  whose  grasp  of  divine  Revelation  is 
firm  and  steady.  There  is  no  barrier  between  him  and  his  God, 
no  wall  of  mystery  and  uncertainty  about  his  dear  and  noble 
dead."  The  Communion  of  Saints  has  always  been  an  essential 
part  of  the  Catholic  Creed  from  the  very  dawn  of  Christianity. 
The  Church  firmly  believes  in  the  possibility  of  communica- 
tion with  the  departed  that  have  died  in  the  Lord,  whether  they 
be  already  basking  in  the  light  of  the  beatific  vision,  or  still 
detained  in  the  purifying  region  of  Purgatory.  But  such  com- 
muning and  interchange  of  spiritual  benefits  is  carried  on  by 


—24— 

the  Faithful  in  a  manner  utterly  at  variance  with  the  dangerous 
and  often  fatal  methods  of  Spiritism. 

Hence  desire  for  knowledge  concerning  the  departed  and  of 
the  secrets  of  the  great  beyond  does  not  at  all  disturb  the 
earnest,  devout  Christian,  who  knows  with  certainty  that  his 
faith  contains  God's  own  Eevelation  regarding  the  future  life 
and  the  immortality  of  his  soul.  But  alas !  the  unhappy  multi- 
tude that  is  destitute  of  the  blessed,  cheering  hope  founded  on 
the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  yearn  for  knowledge  of  the  next 
world,  for  some  means  of  bridging  over  the  chasm  that  yawns 
between  the  living  and  the  dead.  They  foolishly  imagine  that 
a  satisfactory  answer  to  their  cravings  is  given  by  Spiritism. 
Poor  creatures!  They  are  the  victims  of  a  huge  illusion,  the 
sports  of  lying  devils.  They  ask  for  the  bread  of  truth,  and 
they  receive  the  stone  of  error.  Our  earnest  prayer  is  that 
they  may  look  elsewhere  for  reliable  instruction  and  genuine 
consolation,  that  before  it  is  too  late,  they  may  thus  escape 
the  fatal  dangers  of  those,  of  whom  St.  Paul  spoke  in  his  first 
letter  to  Timothy:  "Some  shall  depart  from  the  faith,  giving 
heed  to  spirits  of  error  and  doctrines  of  devils."  T,  IV,  1. 

Authorities  Cited 

To  assure  the  readers  of  my  articles  on  Spiritism  that 
the  views  expressed  therein  are  thoroughly  sound,  orthodox  and 
in  full  harmony  with  the  teachings  of  modern  Catholic  philoso- 
phers and  theologians  approved  by  the  Catholic  Church,  I  here 
append  the  list  of  the  authors  T  consulted.  Several  of  them 
taught  in  the  Papal  Gregorian  university  of  Rome.  Their  text- 
books on  philosophy,  moral  theology  and  canon  law  are  used 
in  the  leading  universities  and  seminaries  of  Europe  and  Amer- 
ica. If  the  doctrine  they  teach  on  Spiritism,  which  I  repro- 
duced, is  not  orthodox  and  Catholic  I  should  like  to  know  what 
it  is. 

Philosophers — Schiffini,  Palmieri,  Urraburu,  Ferretti. 

Professors  of  Dogmatic  Theology — Petavius,  Perrone,  Car- 
dinal Mazzella. 

Canonist — Ojetti. 

Moral  theologians — Ballerini,  Buceroni,  Genicot,  Noldin, 
Lehmkuhl,  Slater. 

They  are  all  members  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  with  whose 
works  I  happen  to  be  fairly  acquainted. 


—25— 

FOURTH  ARTICLE 

The  Natural  Endowments  of  the  Fallen  Angels. 

These  supplementary  notes  are  published  for  the  purpose 
of  strengthening  the  arguments  advanced  in  the  three  previous 
articles,  issued  in  this  journal,  when  the  writer,  not  to  trespass 
on  the  space  allowed,  found  it  necessary  to  be  brief  and  con- 
cise. 

Note  1.    Necromancy  and  Spiritism  Identical. 

The  attempt  to  hold  intercourse  with  the  inhabitants  of  the 
unseen  world,  is  not,  as  some  seem  to  imagine,  a  practice  pecu- 
liar to  these  modern  times.  History  proves  that  it  was  resorted 
to  in  all  the  epochs  of  antiquity,  in  civilized  as  well  as  in  bar- 
barous nations.  It  is  only  in  the  method  of  evoking  those  man- 
ifestations, that  any  difference  can  be  said  to  exist  between 
the  practice  of  olden  times  and  that  of  our  days.  The  former 
superstition  was  designated  under  the  name  of  Necromancy. 
This  latter  term,  as  defined  in  Standard  dictionary  (Funk  & 
Wagnalls)  shows  its  perfect  identity  with  spiritism — "  Necro- 
mancy is  the  art  of  foretelling  the  future  by  means  of  pretended 
communication  with  the  dead.  It  is  calling  and  invoking  the 
aid  of  the  devil.  An  effort  to  obtain  information  from  the 
dead,  or  from  demons. ' '  This  superstitious  practice  was  long 
ago  proscribed  both  by  the  Church  and  the  civil  authorities 
of  cultured  nations.  To  establish  the  complete  identity  between 
Necromancy  and  spiritism  we  have  but  to  compare  the  preced- 
ing definitions  with  the  doctrine  of  the  spiritists  themselves, 
who  hold  that  those  wonderful  communications  are  due  to  the 
souls  of  the  dead,  the  departed  human  beings,  that  once  inhab- 
ited this  planet.  Though,  under  the  guidance  of  right  reason 
and  directed  by  the  lessons  of  experience,  the  Spiritistic  decep- 
tion may  be  unmasked,  yet  it  must  be  allowed  that  it  is  in  his- 
toric Christian  faith  alone  that  we  find  the  true  standard  by 
which  the  momentous  problems  presented  by  modern  Spiritism 
can  be  fairly  and  adequately  judged. 

Note  2.  The  extraordinary  and  superhuman  knowledge  and 
power  of  angels. 

To  account  for  both  the  physical  and  intellectual  feats 
exhibited  in  the  spiritistic  performances,  we  must  briefly  recall 
what  orthodox  theology  teaches  us  regarding  the  endowment 
of  angels. 


—26— 

As  in  men  so  in  angels  we  must  carefully  distinguish  the  nat- 
ural from  the  supernatural  gifts  bestowed  on  them  by  their 
Sovereign  Creator  and  Supreme  Benefactor.  The  chief  super- 
natural gift  conferred  on  the  angelic  multitude  was  sanctifying 
grace,  which  elevated  them  to  a  most  intimate  union  with  their 
Maker  and  fitted  them  for  the  heavenly  happiness  of  the  beat- 
ific vision,  attainable  on  condition  of  their  loyalty  and  submis- 
sion to  the  Lord's  will,  the  test  of  their  fidelity.  The  precious 
gift  of  grace  Lucifer  and  his  followers  forfeited  forever  by 
their  sin  and  rebellion.  But  as  to  the  mere  natural  gifts,  con- 
stituting the  very  essence  of  pure  spirits,  they  remained  to  them 
full  and  unimpaired.  They  are  principally  two,  extraordinary 
knowledge  and  power  far  superior  to  those  possessed  by  even 
the  most  gifted  men.  As  to  knowledge,  they  possess  such  pen- 
etration as  to  be  able  by  a  single  glance  to  take  in  the  whole 
field  of  science  both  physical  and  rational  along  with  its  num- 
erous branches.  However  vast  may  be  the  comprehension  of 
the  angelic  mind,  it  is  restricted  by  two  most  important  limits. 

First,  it  cannot  know  with  certainty  future  events  that 
depend  on  the  free  action  of  God  or  man. 

Second,  it  can  have    no  sure  knowledge    of  man's    inner 
thoughts,  called  the  secrets  of  the  hearts. 

Hence  utterances  on  such  matters,  often  heard  in  spiritistic 
seances,  are  mere  wild  guesses  or  downright  falsehoods  intended 
by  the  lying  spirits  to  deceive  the  illuded  experimenters  and 
the  assembled  sitters. 

The  Formidable  Power  of  Angels 

A  very  striking  proof  is  the  event  related  in  Holy  Scripture, 
when  one  single  angel  slew  in  one  night  185,000  soldiers  of  the 
Assyrian  army  of  the  impious  King  Sennacherib,  who  had 
defied  the  God  of  Israel  to  save  Jerusalem  from  destruction. 
IV  Kings  XIX,  35.  Sincere  Christian  believers  have  nothing 
to  fear  from  the  power  of  the  good  angels,  our  divinely 
appointed  guardians  and  protectors,  of  whom  St.  Paul  writes : 
"Are  they  not  all  ministering  spirits  sent  to  minister  for  them 
who  shall  receive  the  inheritance  of  salvation?"  Hebrew  I, 
14.  We  can  have  no  surer  guarantee  of  assistance  against  the 
conspiracy  of  demons  than  the  fear  and  love  of  God,  of  Him 
whose  tenderness  for  His  loyal  servants  is  infinite  and  whose 
power  is  almighty. 


—  27— 

On  the  other  hand,  as  Christian  doctrine  teaches  us,  the 
wicked  angels,  the  sworn  enemies  of  mankind,  impelled  by  their 
hatred  of  God,  and  the  envy  of  men,  are  ever  ready  to  make  use 
of  their  astounding  power  against  us.  They  are,  however,  sub- 
ject to  the  full  control  of  divine  omnipotence  for  the  mainten- 
ance and  preservation  of  the  physical,  moral,  social  and  spirit- 
ual order  of  the  world.  Hence  the  devil's  power  also  has  its 
limitations,  which  have  been  providentially  fixed  by  Almighty 
God,  and  beyond  which  it  is  impossible  for  him  to  act.  But  if 
men,  in  defiance  of  the  peremptory  divine  prohibition,  wilfully 
and  of  their  own  accord  place  themselves  within  the  reach  of 
the  evil  influence  of  Satan  and  his  satellites,  the  wicked  angels, 
by  meddling  with  spiritistic  practices,  all  know  who  is  to  blame 
if  they  fall  victims  to  such  dreadful  calamities  as  have  been 
described  in  previous  articles.  When,  therefore,  we  take  into 
account  the  prodigious  knowledge  and  power  naturally  pos- 
sessed by  the  fallen  angels,  the  demons,  we  need  not  be  sur- 
prised at  the  astounding  physical  and  intellectual  wonders  dis- 
played in  spiritistic  meetings ;  remarkable  wonders  indeed, 
which  can  in  no  wise  be  attributed  to  the  presence  and  action 
of  the  dead  for  the  all-sufficient  reason  that  they  possess 
neither  the  knowledge  nor  the  power  needed  to  produce  them. 

Note  3.    The  several  forms  of  Occultism. 

Though  designated  by  different  names,  yet  they  are  more 
or  less  superstitious  practices,  and  as  such  they  all  fall  under 
the  ban  of  condemnation.  They  are  as  follows :  Mesmerism, 
magnetism,  hypnotism,  the  ouija  board  or  the  French  planch- 
ette  and  modern  Spiritism.  All  their  effects,  which  cannot  be 
accounted  for  by  the  action  of  natural  forces,  must  be  reckoned 
as  preternatural,  and  therefore  due  to  the  agencies  of  invisible, 
free  intelligent  beings.  These  beings,  it  has  been  shown,  are  no 
other  than  the  wicked  angels,  the  demons.  This  is  precisely  the 
principle  on  which  the  Catholic  Church  bases  the  reason  of  the 
several  condemnations  issued  by  its  authority.  In  fact  in  a 
decree  published  June  25,  1840,  the  cardinals  of  the  Holy  Office 
speak  thus:  "The  application  of  purely  physical  principles  or 
means  to  things  or  effects  that  are  really  supernatural,  in  order 
to  explain  these  on  physical  grounds,  is  nothing  else  than 
unlawful  and  heretical  deception. ' ' 

Here  we  pertinetly  ask :  What  are  the  effects  that  are  really 
supernatural,  and  which,  according  to  the  mind  of  the  Catholic 


—28— 

Church,  cannot  be  accounted  for  naturally,  and  require  there- 
fore the  intervention  of  preternatural  agents  for  their  produc- 
tion? We  find  the  answer  in  another  decree  of  the  Holy  Office 
issued  July  30th,  1850.  They  are  chiefly  the  following : 

* '  To  claim  to  see  things  naturally  invisible ;  to  answer  ques- 
tions on  religion ;  to  evoke  and  consult  the  souls  of  the  dead ;  to 
detect  things  distant  beyond  the  reach  of  human  capacity;  to 
receive  answers  to  things  or  questions  naturally  ignored."  Are 
not  these  the  very  things  done  in  the  spiritistic  seances?  There- 
fore whoever  holds  that  these  and  similar  effects  can  be  obtained 
by  the  application  of  physical  agencies  or  forces,  that  is  by 
purely  natural  means,  cannot  evade  the  condemnation  of  the 
Holy  Office,  which  in  its  decrees  proscribes  the  above  spiritistic 
practices  and  phenomena  as  superstitious,  diabolical,  heretical, 
and  as  a  deception  absolutely  unlawful.  See  Tanquery,  vol.  1, 
p.  321. 

The  Second  Council  of  Baltimore  (1866)  declares  that  some 
at  least  of  the  manifestations  of  Spiritism  are  to  be  ascribed  to 
Satan's  intervention.  What  the  Church  condemns  in  spiritism 
is  not  the  mere  use  of  physical  means  for  obtaining  natural 
effects,  but  what  in  it  is  superstitious  with  its  evil  conse- 
quences, religious,  mental  and  moral. 

Note  4.    Immortality  and  Spiritism. 

Immortality,  the  cornerstone  of  religion  and  morality,  has 
been  fiercely  assailed  and  denied  by  many,  not  because  it  is  not 
solidly  proved,  but  because  its  opponents,  reckless  in  their  pri- 
vate conduct,  dread  the  awful  responsibility,  which  it  entails 
in  the  endless  world  to  come.  Its  truth  is  indeed  the  joy  of  the 
just  and  the  terror  of  the  wicked.  Besides  being  divinely 
revealed,  it  is  the  inevitable  postulate  of  reason  when  fairly 
consulted.  It  is,  moreover,  the  universal  belief  of  mankind — a 
belief  all  the  more  striking  since  it  persists  in  spite  of  the  vio- 
lent opposition  from  the  alluring  passions  of  men.  All  accurate 
thinkers  in  all  times  have  admitted  this  rational  tenet,  and  it  is 
for  this  reason  that  the  schoolmen  in  their  demonstration  of 
the  soul's  immortality  never  gave  any  prominence  to  the  argu- 
ment derived  from  the  spiritistic  phenomena  observed  in  the 
past.  Modern  spiritism  pretends  to  furnish  an  incontestable 
new  proof  of  immortality  and  future  life ;  a  claim  to  be  by  all 
means  rejected,  for  its  validity  rests,  after  all,  upon  their  the- 
ory that  the  communications  come  from  disembodied  spirits — a 


theory  which  we  proved  to  be  absolutely  untenable.  Hence  it  is 
not  true  to  say  that  spiritism  has  dealt  the  deathblow  to  mater- 
ialism, for  if  the  doctrine  of  spiritism  were  the  only  argument 
for  the  existence  of  future  life,  materialism,  instead  of  being 
crushed,  would  still  triumph.  As  the  history  of  philosophy  tes- 
tifies, the  deathblow  of  materialism  has  been  given  long  years 
ago  by  the  works  of  Catholic  psychologists  under  the  leadership 
of  the  prince  of  philosophers  and  theologians,  St.  Thomas 
Aquinas.  As  Dr.  John  Quackenbos  well  said:  "The  real  proof 
of  immortality  is  not  to  be  sought  in  the  vaporings  of  spir- 
itism." 

Note  5.  Authorities  advocating  the  Catholic  View  of  Spir- 
itism. 

Besides  the  Catholic  philosophers,  theologians,  canonists 
and  moralists  quoted  in  the  third  article,  the  following  authors 
are  added. 

1.  Modern  Spiritism  and  the  New  Black  Magic,  by  J.  God- 
frey Raupert. 

2.  Sermons  on  Modern  Spiritualism,  by  A.  V.  Muller. 

3.  Spiritism  Unveiled,  by  Rt.  Rev.  B.  L.  Lanslot,  0.  S.  B. 

4.  The  Unseen  World,  by  A.  M.  Lepicier,  0.  S.  M. 

5.  Brownson's  Review,  The  Spirit  Rapper,  Vol.  IX. 

6.  The  Homiletic  Monthly,  November,  1919. 

7.  The  Ecclesiastical  Review,  June,  1918;  January,  1920; 
April,  1920. 

8.  The  Irish  Monthly,  January,  1920. 

9.  Perils  of  Spiritualism,  by  Herbert  Thurston  in  Studies, 
an  Irish  Review. 

10.  Spiritualism,  by  Mgr.  Benson. 

11.  Spiritism  and  Modern  Satanism,  by  F.  F.  Cookley. 

12.  Abridgment  of  Moral  Theology,  by  Cardinal  D'Anni- 
bale. 

13.  Synopsis  of  Dogmatic  Theology,  by  A.  Tanquery.  S.  S. 

14.  Moral  Theology,  by  Scavini. 

15.  Civilta   Cattolica,    a   fortnightly   Roman   review   con- 
ducted by  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  1864-1865. 

Note  6. 

Men  of  scientific  attainments  and  upright  character,  after 


---30— 

long  and  careful  investigation,  declare  that  certain  physical 
and  psychical  phenomena  of  spiritism  witnessed  by  them  can- 
not be  explained  by  any  cause  known  to  science.  Hence  they 
freely  admit  that  they  surpass  both  nature's  and  man's  powers 
and  are  therefore  preternatural,  due  to  free,  intellectual  agen- 
cies of  a  malignant  character,  as  revealed  by  spiritistic  results. 
They  therefore  fully  justify  the  attitude  of  the  Catholic  Church 
in  denouncing  the  pernicious  influence  of  spiritistic  practices, 
and  in  warning  men  against  the  physical,  religious  and  moral 
dangers  attending  them. 

Postscript 

Mr.  0.  P.  Thornton,  of  Saratoga,  referring  to  my  articles, 
thanks  me  for  my  admission  of  the  truth  of  many  of  the  phe- 
nomena of  modern  Spiritism.  I  feel  grateful  for  his  courteous 
acknowledgment  and  I  take  occasion  to  reiterate  the  statement 
that,  allowing  for  the  exposure,  at  times,  of  trickery  and  jug- 
glery, many  of  the  marvels  witnessed  in  the  spiritistic  per- 
formances are  real,  genuine,  authentic  facts,  which  cannot  be 
called  in  question  by  any  sensible  man.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
I  cannot  subscribe  to  his  assertion  that  "it  matters  little  to  log- 
ical investigators  what  cause  they  assign." 

Old  Virgil  does  not  agree  with  him,  for  he  said : 

"Felix  qui  potuit  rerum  cognoscere  causas."  (Happy  is  he 
who  could  know  the  causes  of  things.")  Georgica  II,  490. 

The  chief  thing  in  spiritism  is  to  know  the  cause,  that  is  to 
detect  the  real  agents  producing  those  marvelous  feats.  This 
I  have  endeavored  to  find  out  in  the  course  of  my  articles, 
which  led  me  logically  to  the  conclusion  that  evil  results  must 
be  traced  to  an  evil  cause,  and  this  is  no  other  than  devilish 
intervention. 

As  a  very  fitting  conclusion  of  our  discussion  we  here  quote 
from  the  Monitor  (April  3,  1920),  Bishop  Turner's  warning  on 
Spiritism.  Whoever  has  followed  the  trend  of  our  articles  will 
be  candid  enough  to  admit  that  our  views,  however  imperfectly 
stated,  are  in  full  agreement  with  those  of  his  Lordship  who 
formerly  held  with  honor  the  chair  of  philosophy  in  the  Cath- 
olic University  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


—31— 
The  Human  Soul's  Immortality  and  Spiritism. 

Buffalo,  March  19,  1920.— Bishop  William  Turner,  of  Buf- 
falo, in  a  statement  given  out  on  Saturday,  explained  the  atti- 
tude of  the  Catholic  Church  toward  the  nefarious  doctrine  of 
Spiritism  which  is  spreading  rapidly  in  the  United  States  and 
England.  He  cautioned  the  faithful  against  the  tremendous 
spiritistic  propaganda  which  is  now  being  carried  out  in  this 
country,  as  well  as  against  the  ouija  board,  or  planchette,  by 
means  of  which  a  great  many  unsophisticated  persons  first  get 
interested  in  Spiritism  and  are  gradually  led  astray. 

Bishop  Turner  declared  that  the  Church  has  forbidden  com- 
munication with  evil  spirits  from  apostolic  times  and  has 
always  warned  against  false  prophets.  Referring  to  the  evil 
effects  of  "The  New  Revelation",  the  Bishop  said  the  "mess- 
ages" received  by  the  exprimenter  in  Spiritism,  though  appar- 
ently harmless  at  first,  soon  become  sinister,  and  gradually 
undermine  his  religious  faith  and  destroy  his  moral  character. 

"These  messages,"  Msgr.  Turner  declared,  "at  their  best 
are  trivial,  irrelevant,  flippant ;  at  their  worst,  they  are  im- 
moral, irreverent,  atheistic  or  even  blasphemous.  They  often 
cause  dissensions  in  families,  undermine  faith  in  God  and  tend 
to  subvert  established  moral  standards.  They  are,  apparently, 
'the  evil  fruit  of  an  evil  tree.'  They  cannot  come  from  any 
good  source." 

Concerning  the  position  of  the  Catholic  Church  toward 
Spiritism,  Bishop  Turner  said : 

"Ever  since  apostolic  times,  the  Church  has  forbidden  com- 
merce of  all  kinds  with  evil  spirits,  and  has  warned  the  faithful 
against  false  prophets.  As  to  the  current  practice  of  Spiritism, 
the  Church  has  forbidden  Catholics  to  assist  at  spiritistic  com- 
munications or  manifestations,  even  when  these  bear  the 
appearance  of  being  honest  and  pious,  even  though  one  tacitly 
or  expressly  excludes  the  intention  of  dealing  with  evil  spirits. 
And  the  effects  that  usually  follow  from  the  practice  of  Spirit- 
ism amply  justify  this  prohibition.  Physicians  can  testify  to 
these  effects,  and  quite  recently,  I  believe,  it  was  proposed  in 
California  to  forbid  by  law  the  use  of  the  ouija  board  because 
of  the  number  of  cases  in  which  that  practice  led  to  insanity. 

"The  Church  would  welcome  scientific  proof  of  immortal- 
ity, but  she  would  be  slow  to  accept  proof  that  merely  claims  to 


—32— 

be  scientific.  The  immortality  of  the  soul  is  a  philosophical, 
not  a  scientific  truth.  The  proofs  of  it  from  reason,  from  con- 
sciousness, from  the  existence  of  the  moral  order,  and  so  forth, 
are  honored  in  the  traditional  philosophy  of  the  Catholic 
schools.  But  as  these  are  technical  proofs,  they  do  not  appeal 
to  the  untrained  mind  with  all  their  force. 

''The  Church,  therefore,  in  her  preaching  and  practice,  has 
stressed  the  fact  of  immortality  on  Scriptural  grounds,  on  the 
strength  of  facts  which  are  known  to  be  true,  and  while  she 
would  undoubtedly,  like  her  Founder,  wish  *  all  men  to  come  to 
a  knowledge  of  the  truth,'  she  does  not  believe  that  mediums 
are  the  divinely  chosen  means  of  bringing  about  a  universal 
belief  in  immortality." 


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